


This Could Be How We Win

by Azdaema



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Empress Rey, Face Slapping, Gen, Leia has no time for this bullshit, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Well... not yet, but she will be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-29 03:58:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14464503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azdaema/pseuds/Azdaema
Summary: Leia slaps Rey, and tells her off for not becoming empress of the galaxy.





	This Could Be How We Win

**Author's Note:**

> You know that reel of Leia slapping Poe a bunch of times? This is inspired by that.  
> (If you need to watch it again, here it is: [27 takes of Carrie Fisher slapping Oscar Isaac](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFjWnszc94M\)))
> 
> We all need a little more of Leia slapping people in the face, don't we?

General Organa slapped Rey across the face.

It had been two days since Crait. It had taken Rey that long before she found time to tell the General all of what had happened. She didn't know what she had expected, but it certainly hadn't been this.

"He offered you rule of the galaxy, and you turned it down?" The General looked positively livid.

"He refused to stop firing at your transport ships!"

"You _asked_ him?" Leia facepalmed. "Rey, you won't get far in this galaxy if you keep asking men for _permission_ before you do things."

"I..."

"As empress of the galaxy, you could've given the order yourself!"

Rey stared at the older woman, stunned. Finally, she whispered, "He said I was nothing."

"Rey!" The General looked at her as if she was a puppy who had peed inside; all at once sympathetic, scolding, and exasperated. "Do you know the things they said about me when I was a senator? You have to grow a thicker skin!"

"No, it's not like that. It's... ‘Join me and we'll make the galaxy in our own image, even though you're nothing and I'm a monster.’ How was I supposed to respond to that?"

Leia shook her head, and muttered to herself, "I should've taught him how to talk to girls."

"What?!" Rey yelped.

"Nothing. Rey—" The General sighed, trying to choose her words. "Rey, the Old Republic fell on the day I was born. I was a senator by the time I was nineteen. I have spent my _entire life_ fighting for this cause, and at the end of _all that_ , I sent out my code and _nobody came_. You are young and idealistic, and I love you for that, but get some perspective. You had the chance to shape the galaxy, and you should've taken it."

"But we are the spark that will light the fire that will burn the First Order down!"

"But nobody starts a fire with flint if they have a lighter! It's a pain in the ass!" Leia shook her head in exasperation. "You're as bad as Poe!"

There wasn't much room on the _Falcon_ , and Poe, hearing his name, poked his head around the corner. "You called, General?" He glanced at Rey and her reddened check. "Hurts, doesn't it?" he asked her, smirking slightly.

Rey shot him an annoyed look.

"I _didn't_ call, but while you're here, tell Rey what you learned."

"Be smart, and don't focus on looking like a hero," Poe reeled off, as if from rote memorization.

"Good boy." Leia gave Poe a smile, then turned to Rey with a there-you-go gesture.

"What?"

Leia sighed. "I appreciate your loyalty, Rey, and I know Luke was lecturing you on resisting the Dark Side, but this isn't the same."

"No, it _is_." Rey's voice was strong now—this, at least, was something she _knew_ , something she was _sure_ of. "The Dark Side is always the quick answer, the easy answer."

"Alright, maybe it is then! So what? Look what resisting the Dark Side for decades did for Luke!"

Rey took a physical step backward. The pain in Leia's voice was plain.

Leia sighed again, and took a deep breath to reel herself back in. "I never wanted to be a Jedi, in large part because of this. I don't know if I could've resisted the Dark Side, and I'm still not entirely convinced I should have." She waved a hand dismissively. "Also, you know, celibacy."

Poe awkwardly edged out of the cabin, leaving them to talk Force stuff alone.

"Maybe it _is_ the quick answer, Rey, but we've already tried the slow answer. I've spent my _entire life_ fighting for this, and I'm too old now to do it all again."

When she spoke, Rey's voice was soft, "Luke said the Jedi were romanticized now that they're gone, but that in reality, there was hypocrisy and hubris."

Leia's tone softened too. "I'm not saying _fully_ embrace the Dark Side. Actually, definitely don't do that. But if you were empress of the galaxy... that could be how we win. From the inside out."

Rey looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry, General."

"Is it too late?"

"What?"

 _"Is it too late?_ If you went back now and told him you'd changed your mind, do you think my idiot son would give you half the galaxy?"

Rey's first impulse was to say: _Yes, it's too late. I rejected him, hurt him, humiliated him. He won't forgive that._ But then she remembered her words to Luke: _You failed him by thinking his choice was made. It wasn't..._

"I don't know," she said at last.

"Then it's worth a try."

Rey hesitated, then nodded. Suddenly, a smile burst across her face. "This could be how we win."

Leia finally smiled back at her. "Yes. This could be."

**Author's Note:**

> The line, "Join me and we'll make the galaxy in our own image, even though you're nothing and I'm a monster," was taken from the lovely and eloquent [Sursum Ursa](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaJi7PAsEVg). All credit where it's due.


End file.
